


line in the sand

by noblydonedonnanoble



Category: Doctor Who RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-30
Updated: 2013-10-30
Packaged: 2017-12-30 22:36:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1024204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noblydonedonnanoble/pseuds/noblydonedonnanoble





	line in the sand

David and Catherine have reached a point where, when left to their own devices, their first instinct is to cuddle.

This is innocent enough. Granted, there was a time when the cuddling led to various… other things. But that time is no more. For the most part. Except on very special occasions, be they real or imagined.

But on one particular not-special occasion, they are on her sofa together, and they are cuddling. Just cuddling. His arm is around her, hand resting near her waist; her head is settled on his shoulder, in the crook of his neck. As is their wont, they are listening to music. On this particular occasion, David has selected a Coldplay album. (He ignores Catherine's attempts to guess the artist, as they are all way off and not even deserving of a response.)

Sometimes they speak. Sometimes. Because one can find more joy in silence of the proper sort, than in the fullest, deepest conversation imaginable—and David and Catherine share in that proper sort of silence, and so they relish in it.

"I miss you."

A loaded statement to break a loaded silence. David frowns and says, "I missed you too." Because it was only recently that Catherine finished shooting in L.A. and returned home. So recently, in fact, that if he thinks hard enough, he can still feel the lingering sensation of her lips on his.

"That's not what I mean. I said 'miss,' present tense."

"I understand that, but I don't understand why. You've got me right here."

She lets out a sigh and grabs at his hand, the one that is not pulling her in close. And rather than pulling out of his embrace so that she can look him in the eye, Catherine simply clings to David's hand as she muses, "I know. But I haven't really got you, have I?" This, David cannot contradict, and he makes no attempt to do so. When she sees that he's not going to argue, Catherine continues: "And I suppose I never really quite had you, not in the strictest of terms. But now…"

"You're the one who decided—"

"I know."

"Then why dwell on it?"

Now, Catherine does pull away from David. She does look him in the eye, and he looks positively terrified at the prospect of hearing her reply. She smiles slightly, a half-hearted, weathered smile that just about breaks his heart. "Just because I knew it was the best thing to do, that doesn't mean that it's what I wanted."

He grimaces. His heart goes out to her, because he understands precisely where she's coming from, and he pulls her back in with no reply.

Until he breaks the silence once again, with a timid, "I miss you, too."

She kisses him tenderly, and wonders how long they will be able to walk this line before they shatter it once again.


End file.
